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Hi Guys,

You may have seen my recent post about my bristlenose tank haveing ick- well I lost two clown loaches from the outbreak. But the good news is the outbreak has cleared.

I have spent hours looking up information on trying to spawn bristlenoses, and am at the stage where I am thinking I am doing something wrong because nothing is happening.

I have 8 bristlenoses- 4 males, 4 females. They are all mature enough to breed (or so I am told) In the tank I have 2 clay pipes- a large & small shell. Bogwood- and soon to add pvc piping, I have been trying to trigger them to spawn- by conditioning them on peas, cucumber, bloodworm and algea pellets. I have also conducted 50% water changes every two weeks, where am I going wrong?

My females are quite wide, which I am perceiving as gravid, am I right? what do I need to look for?

I have my temperture normally at 28c- It has been on the 30c the last wk and this wk to try an clear the ick outbreak. My Ph is at 7, nitrates & n at 0ppm.

I have added a piccy of my tank for you to click on what I am going on about- apologies if out of focus.

I appriachate that you may of already answered simular questions about this- I have followed as much information as I got my hands on.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/ ... btank1.jpg
Mod Edit to a link, due to the large size and slow loading time

Many Thanks

Deanna

Your tank looks great. I have spawned these, this setup looks awesome for these. I would take any fish out other then them if you have any. Then, I would take the 2 biggest males and 3 females and leave them in there, the rest I would put in the tank. You are doing the right thing, which is a varied diet. I have spawned them doiong a rainy season and just straight tap water. Make sure they feel safe, that is what my main obsticle was.

Barbie wrote:It's very hard to tell from your pictures, but are your caves basically long tubes with no end? If so, that would be the source of your problem, IMO. The males must be able to trap the female to prove their worth as parents. If they can't, there will be no spawns. Where they've just recently had a bout with ich, you might plan to give them a month to "recondition" before you start with any cool water changes.

On a side note, your tank is not nearly heavily planted enough to have a 0 nitrate level, especially not with water changes only done every two weeks. If you've really tested 0 nitrates, you need to regularly test ammonia and nitrites to keep them under the stress levels for your fish while the cycle completes itself. I personally recommend 30% water changes done weekly, in order to reduce the amount of fluctuation you're getting with larger changes at longer intervals.

Clown loaches will be very adept at picking off newly independent bristlenose fry btw. You'll want to plan to move the male and his cave into some form of rearing container or tank just before he releases them into the tank. Once they're over an inch, they should be fine to turn loose in the tank again.

Barbie

Thanks guys, its always great to have a second opinion.
My Caves are long pipes- I have back them to a wall so that the end is blocked off, soI can see if any eggs have been laid.I will drop my water changes down to 30%, I have no clown loaches in their any more- they never survived the ick outbreak. I have in their a goldy pleco LA14 and an albino pleco- do you think I should remove them from the tank?

Yesterday evening I added a large shell- I came in this morning to find them all surrounding it- so manybe that will be a great spot also for them to spawn.

I have a spare tank to raise the fry in- I will get it up and running in 5 days- Im waiting for the glue to seal the crack.

Many Thanks- really appriachate the advice guys.

Mells

On another note- I have invested in some caves, and am awaiting for them to arrive. I am trying to breed L260 & L236, L134 & L255 too- but they are not arriving to the end of the mth.

Mells

I think you may want to lower your temperature a little bit. Higher temperatures in the tank will generally lead to the fish getting less energy to produce eggs, since the metabolic rate of the fish is almost directly related to the temperature. So whilst your fish are likely to be perfectly happy at 28 or 30'C, they are not getting any spare energy to produce the eggs necessary to breed. Between 22'C and 26'C is temps where I've seen spawns.

The caves do not have to be any specific shape, but as Barbie said, they do need to have some sort of fixed end. My first two spawns where in a cave that the male dug himself under a piece of slate. I later tried to use half-pipe of bamboo, but that was too ligt, so it got moved around by the male and the eggs "flew out". An upside down flower-pot saucer works really well. The cave has to be small enough for the male to hold the female, so a too-big cave will not work well.

The male can reproduce at about 8-10 months, females probably need a couple of months longer. This is of course assuming they are well-grown at that age.

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Mats

I also thought that that the temperature was a bit too warm.

My bristlenose shut dawn in Summer when the water temp gets much above 26*C....They are most productive in Autum, Winter, and Spring.. I have no cooling in my fish room, just heating in Winter to 20*C. And this is when the bristle nose are most productive.

Alan